I have heard that Columbia has long, long waitlists-- that they tend to waitlist many people and accept relatively few. NYU, on the other hand, supposedly limits their waitlist to applicants that they would actually offer a spot if one happened to open up, so your chances might be better on there.

I have heard conflicting things about the Columbia waitlist. Someone on Columbia's faculty told me that there is absolutely nothing that you can do to affect your place on the waitlist-- no recommendations etc. will help.

Most people say that that isn't true. They say that if you write a nice letter and solicit an extra LOR or two you will have better chances. There is no way to know what really goes on, as most law schools use the waitlist for "diversity" purposes-- to fill in an extra high scorer here and minority there type of thing.

I would recommend calling the schools and asking them what to do. I had already reached the max on LOR but my present employer wanted to write for me. I called a few schools that I was WL on and they told me that if you are on the WL you can go over the LOR limit.

There is def an element of luck- but every year students DO get off of these waitlists. I'm sure you know people that have. Practically everyone i know at a top law school has gotten in off waitlists, (I had friends that got off of harvard, columbia, and penn last year) so I'm trying to stay optimistic.

OK... i'm posting a little more info in the hopes of some more advice.

I know Fordham is a "better" school, i.e. more highly ranked and with a greater potential to tap into top manhattan firms. Fordham is also a bit more convenient for me to get to.

If i go to cardozo, i will have to be top 1/3 to keep the scholly. If that's the case, are my options going to be the same as they would had I gone to Fordham?

I know that Fordham is no Harvard or Columbia, but it's still a pretty good school. at least in new york city, there is a certain mini-prestige that goes along with the Fordham name. Will my options be the same if I go to Cardozo?? Or will that be limiting?

I, too am quite sick of waiting!! But fyi-- i think that, sometimes, not hearing back from one of your autoadmits is a good thing- when schools want to offer substantial scholarships, i think that it takes a bit longer for them to admit you because they have to first accept you and then send your application to another committee that decides scholarships. This was the case for me with Cardozo and Fordham-- I thought I was an autoadmit for both yet I was complete at Cardozo for about two months without hearing and at Fordham for even longer!! I was so nervous that I wouldn't be in ANYWHERE.. but I finally heard back from dozo with a full scholly and Fordham with a substantial one!! The cardozo dean told me outright that he had read my application a month prior to calling, and that it was another committee that had recently decided to offer me the big bucks.